If we ask ourselves, what makes a successful composite?I would say that it's a combination of three things.It's a compelling story, astrong composition, and excellent technical execution.In order to create a compelling story, the story should grab the viewer's attention,and then the visual narrative has tobe strong enough to actually hold their attention.My goal when I make my composites is to make my story, andmake my imagery, compelling enough to get the viewerinvolved on both an intellectual and an emotional level.

In order to create a strong composition the individualelements all have to focus on telling that single story.In order to achieve this the image shouldtake advantage of the basic principles of design.Which can help emphasize certain elements andlead the viewer's eye throughout the story.If all of these elements are unified together in a believable manner, thenit can create an image that is far more powerful than each individual element.For flawless technical execution, all of the elements reallyneed to work together in harmony, they can't look disjointed.

We want to make sure that the viewer believes the image.Not that the image has to bephotorealistic, but can their mind accept it?Will the viewer suspend their disbelief in order to join you in your story?If there are distracting elements that interrupt theviewer's ability to view the image as a whole,it's going to be very difficult for them to actuallygrasp the meaning of the story behind your image.I believe when all three of these elements come together, a compelling story,a strong composition and seamless technicalexecution, an image stands a very goodchance of being successful.

Unfortunately, when one of them fails, then most of the time,the image will not have the impact that the artist hoped for.Throughout this course, we'll discuss all three of these elements and discoverhow we can better utilize them to create a compelling visual narrative.

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Released

2/17/2014

Join Julieanne Kost as she walks you through her creative thought process and explains how she transforms concepts and raw images into entirely new works of art using Adobe Photoshop. Discover how to select the images you need to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Master the tools used in compositing, including adjustment layers, masking, blending, and Smart Objects, so that the technology doesn't get in the way of expressing your creative vision. Learn how to adjust scale and perspective and manipulate texture and focus to help viewers temporarily suspend their disbelief long enough to enter your world.